Cold To The Touch
by Mr. Blender
Summary: Simon is weakening and the crown seeks a stronger host to last it through the years. It's choice? The most precious thing Simon had in his old life. A continuation of the Thirteen Days series. Slight Bubbline and Finn/Flame Princess.
1. Chapter 1

The forest was dark. The cold was unbearable. Snow was falling steadily. But, to this young girl, it was the only home that she knew. Darkness and cold had become something she was accustomed to. Her guardian had left her here for a short time while he scavenged around nearby for something to eat. He had told her that he would be safe as long as she stayed in this exact spot. This would have been valuable information had she listened and not wondered off. The girl's curiosity was one of her greatest faults. She had a need to explore, as it kept her looking forward and not back. Looking back on previous life was not something the girl liked to do. Too many bad memories… The apocalypse had not been a pretty thing. People screaming, being turned into those…things. At the beginning, everything had been ablaze. Now, everything was cold. It seemed almost a representation of what the world had become. Cruel. The girl kept these thoughts in the back of her mind. She didn't talk to her guardian about it; He already had enough to worry about just finding them food. So, she just kept moving on. It got hard at points, but he was always there to help her. She was all he had left. Other than the crown, that is. The girl frowned and sat down near a tree stump.

"_He always has that crown near him. It makes him act weird; why does he need it?_" The girl wondered to herself.

When her guardian put the crown on his head, everything about him changed. He became scarier and prone to rage. Unspeakable power came from him in the forms of stinging ice and snow. She knew to hide when he made the decision to put it on. She would always plead for him not to, but the situation always demanded its power. That was always what he told her, anyway.

_Marceline…_

The girl turned her head at the sound of a soft, inviting voice off in the distance. She stood up and searched for the source of the voice.

_I'm here. Come to me._

She followed the voice. She was unable to stop herself from doing so, as it was such a beautiful voice. It called her to a spot of the woods thick with trees. Spikey thorns cut and sliced at her body, but she kept going mindlessly.

_You're almost here._

The girl stopped when she saw her guardian of in the distance searching the trees. She quickly hid behind a fallen tree.

"_Simon? What is he doing here?_"

_I'm right here, Marceline._

"Who are you?" she asked softly.

_Take the crown, Marceline._

"The…crown?"

_Take the crown and we will speak to you._

"What about Simon?"

_Simon won't mind if you try it on, will he?_

The girl seemed unable to disobey.

"How am I going to get it?"

_He will set it down on a stump shortly. Watch for when this happens and move quietly to where it is. You must be quick about it._

"Grrr! This stupid crown keeps catching on the branches!" She heard Simon say loudly.

She watched carefully. Just as the voice had said, he set the crown onto the stump and climbed back into the tree.

_Move now!_

The young girl moved quickly toward the crown and snatched it from the stump. She quietly sneaked away a distance from where Simon was searching.

_Yes, Marceline. Put the crown on._

"Why do you want me to?"

_Simon is getting weaker. He can no longer hold our power. He is no longer a suitable host. We need someone who will last for centuries. You are the one. We can see that you are a special girl with amazing potential._

"Me?"

_Yes, Marceline. Place the crown on your head and we will grant you powers beyond your wildest dreams… You'll be able to protect what you love…_

"Simon?" She asked softly.

_Yes, even Simon… But you must trust us and do as we say. Put the crown on._

The girl stared at the crown with wide eyes. She rose it over her head and slowly lowered it down on top of it. She felt unbelievable power surge through her body the minute it touched her. The previously slow moving snow around her now whipped into blizzard conditions. She laughed at how she could so easily control the snow. Just a wave of her hand sent the snow blowing off in another direction.

_Remember this power, Marceline…_

"I will…"

The girl heard Simon off in the distance.

"The crown! Where did it go?!"

_Find the crown and take what is yours. Let no one stop you._

_Marceline…_

_Marceline._

_Marceline!_

* * *

Marceline was shaken awake by her girlfriend, who had a rather frightened look on her face. Marceline herself was covered in a cold sweat. It was dark, so Bubblegum hadn't noticed this.

"Bonnie? What the glob, woman?! I was sleeping!"

"Sorry. You were just… What were you dreaming about?"

"Huh? That's what you woke me up for?"

"Just answer me."

"I dunno. I don't remember dreams, Bonnie. Now, what's this about?"

"Well, you were… laughing…"

"Laughing? Maybe I was enjoying myself."

"No. Like, really creepy… Evil laughter…"

"So, you woke me up because I creeped you out?"

"Well… I… Yes." Bubblegum said quietly, feeling more ridiculous as the minutes passed.

"I'm a vampire, Bonnie. Everything I do could be labeled as creepy by someone."

"I guess…"

"Good. Now, let's get some sleep. We have to meet Finn and FP tomorrow."

Bubblegum watched Marceline lay back down and cover herself with the blanket. She still felt a little uneasy, but soon dismissed it as just vampire weirdness. She eventually fell asleep, not knowing that Marceline was still wide awake.

"What was with that?" She whispered to herself.

Although Marceline had often been plagued with nightmares of her previous life, nothing had ever addressed her directly. But, the last few nights she had been having strange dreams involving Simon's crown. A beautiful voice had been tempting her to take it in the dreams. She didn't understand what it meant. Why would she need the crown? Who were these voices? Marceline got up slowly, not wanting to wake Bubblegum. She looked out the window and placed her hand against it. The glass was cold as she touched it. She left streaks as she ran her hand down. Snow was softly falling around the castle.

_Marceline._

She spun around quickly and looked around the room. There was nobody there.

"Who's there?"

_We are, Marceline._

"Bonnie? If you're doing this, it isn't funny…"

_We are not Bonnibel. She still slumbers on the bed._

"Who are you?"

_Nothing but a good friend to you._

"I'm warning you…"

_Don't threaten us, sweetie. We aren't an enemy. We just want to talk to you._

"About what?"

_Your future._

"What about it?"

_We can't tell you here. Too many watchful eyes for our tastes. We can't let such sensitive information be heard by the untrustworthy._

"How are you going to tell me, then?"

_We will lead you somewhere that those against you cannot hear. Follow our voice and we will take you there._

Marceline, almost instinctively, followed the sound out of the castle. The snow didn't feel cold. She felt nothing as she flew through the snowy night.

_We promise that this will be worthwhile to you._

Marceline said nothing and continued following the beautiful voice.

* * *

"That's great, man." Jake said with a smile.

"I know, I'm so happy she's back again."

"See? Everything eventually gets better."

"I know."

"Well, I'd better be getting back. I like to help Lady put the pups to bed."

"Yeah, see y-." Finn started to say, before looking out the window with a puzzled expression.

"What? Is there something on my face?" Jake asked.

"No, Marceline's just flying out there…"

"So? Vampires have walks, too."

"She's not blinking, Jake. She looks like she's in a trance."

"I'm adding that to the list of creepy vampire biz." Jake said, pulling out a notebook.

"C'mon, Jake. Let's go see if something's wrong."

"Alright, alright. Guess Lady'll have to wait a bit."

* * *

Finn and Jake followed below Marceline.

"Jake, give me a boost up to her!"

"Alright, just be careful."

Jake stretched up to Marceline's height. Finn looked directly into her eyes.

"Marceline? Hey, Marceline!"

Finn looked back to Jake.

"She isn't responding."

"Maybe this is normal for a vampire?"

"I don't know… I've never seen her do this before…"

"I didn't know you were Ooo's leading Vampire expert, bro. Maybe this is just Vampire sleep-walking."

"So deep you can't wake her up, Jake?'

"I'm just saying."

"Well, we've got to snap her out of this."

* * *

_Those who wish to disrupt us are giving chase, Marceline. They are in front of you._

"What are those things?"

There were two warped monsters standing in front of her. One was a humanoid figure with twisted features, screaming as she approached. The other was a long, stretched out wolf. Both had ice chunks sticking out of their bodies.

_Don't kill them. They are not going to follow if they are not conscious._

"I understand."

"I understand? What does that mean?" Jake asked nervously.

Marceline suddenly dashed away from them. Her fangs extended and she hissed angrily at them.

"Get out of my way!"

"Marceline, what are you talking about?"

"Dude, I'm not hitting a girl with one eye."

Finn looked at Jake.

"It doesn't look like we have a choice. Don't hurt her, just wake her up!" Finn said, readying himself for a fight.

Marceline hissed louder and charged toward the pair.


	2. Chapter 2

Bubblegum awoke slowly and sat up. Her eyes still blurry, she looked around the room slowly. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, yawning while doing so.

"Marcy, if we're going, we might want to start getting ready." She said casually, tying her hair up into a messy ponytail.

She got up from the bed and started looking through her clothes. She noticed that Marceline hadn't flown up next to her, like she normally did. Marceline usually said good morning with a kiss on the top of her head. Was she angry about last night? She sighed and looked back at the bed.

"Look, I'm sorry if I woke you up last night. I was just worried. That laugh… Scared me, honestly."

Nothing. Bubblegum walked closer to the bed.

"It's just… That laugh sounded so evil… It was almost like…"

She pulled the blanket back, only to find Marceline gone. She looked out the window, which she now noticed was open.

"It wasn't you…"

* * *

Finn was sent crashing into a tree, snapping it in half. He spit out a small amount of blood.

"_Not the best thing when dealing with vampires._" He thought to himelf.

Jake was already down somewhere. Finn had no idea where he had landed, but that wasn't his biggest threat right now. The 1,000 year old, scarred, Queen of the Vampires was. Finn had to admit that the scar on her face made her look way more intimidating. Now, he just had to find her. He didn't have to look long, as he was struck in the back by a grey fist.

"Auugh!" He yelled, flying forward again. He landed in a puddle of mud.

Marceline floated toward him, her eyes looking cold. Finn knew he had to act fast or someone was going to get seriously hurt. He scooped up some of the mud in his hand and flung it at her eyes. It took her by surprise and splattered on her face. She shrieked in pain and rubbed her eye, trying to gain some visibility back. With split second accuracy, Finn slammed her head with the blunt handle of his sword. It was a powerful shot. Any other being alive would have been knocked unconscious by that blow. Marceline wasn't like ordinary beings. She hissed and slashed blindly at her attacker and didn't let pain stop her. Because he was in close proximity to her, he was hit by her attack. It knocked him backward and left him sprawled out on the ground.

"I hate fighting vampires…" He groaned, before Marceline grabbed him by the leg and flung him into another tree.

"I've got to say that trees aren't my favorite objects at the moment, either." He said weakly.

He felt blood starting to leak down his face. He pressed his hand to where the pain was. He brought it back in front of his face. His hand was covered in blood. He must have been hit by her claws when she struck him the first time.

"Well, this doesn't bode well for the fight" He said, gritting his teeth.

* * *

Marceline wiped her eyes again. The beast she had been fighting had spit something in her eyes and her sight wasn't great. She figured that it was done now, as she had thrown it against a tree with quite a bit of force.

"I'd better get going…" She said.

_Wait._

"What is it?"

_You have to kill that monster._

"Why? You said I didn't have to."

_We know what we said. But, watching you fight it, we discovered that it poses a bigger threat than anticipated. We are truly sorry._

"I understand." She said.

She could smell the blood. It was an easy trail to follow. She knew what she had to do. But, something didn't seem quite right about this… The smell of the creature's blood was oddly familiar, even though she had never seen this creature in her life. She found it leaning by a tree, holding its head. It groaned in pain; it hadn't noticed her yet.

"I'll end this quickly." She said quietly.

She waited until she was right behind it and raised her hand above its head. Claws bared, she was about to strike when she was hit by a wall of immense heat. It sent her flying backwards through several trees until she landed a couple feet away.

Flame Princess lowered her hand and glared at Marceline's motionless body.

"Don't touch my boyfriend." She said calmly.

Finn looked at Flame Princess, to Marceline, then back to Flame Princess. He looked shocked.

"Uh…Hey, FP…How's it going?"

"Good. Jake went through my ceiling."

"Oh."

"He's fine, don't worry. He landed on my bed."

"Good. Where is he now?"

"Still there. He mumbled something about "helping his bro from Marcy" and passed out. I figured you could use a hand."

"Yeah. Thanks a bunch, I would have been toast…"

"Are you all right? Your head's bleeding!" She said, putting her hand to his face.

He waved her off. "I'm fine, FP. I've gotten into worse than this."

Flame Princess crossed her arms.

"Don't give me that look. I have." Finn said.

"Well, you wait here. I'll go finish her off." Flame Princess said, walking toward Marceline's body.

"No. We have to see what's wrong."

"I know what went wrong, Finn. She was pounding your face in." She said.

"She was, like, sleep-walking or something…"

"I've never heard of sleep-killing before…"

"Look, she's our friend. She deserves the benefit of the doubt."

"I don't know, Finn. Her eyes looked cold… Like she didn't even care…"

"Eye."

"What?"

"She only has one eye. The other one doesn't open."

"You know what I mean."

"I know. We'll be careful. Now, let's go check on her."

"Let's clean you up first. You're bleeding, she's a vampire, and I don't want to take any chances."

"Clean it with what? I didn't bring my backpack."

Flame Princess stared at him and then looked around.

"Uh…"

"That's what I thought."

"Well, at least cover it up…"

"If it'll make you feel better…"

Finn tore off a section of his shirt and dabbed his head with it. He tied it tightly around his head, covering the wound. Flame Princess stared at him.

"What?"

Flame Princess blushed and looked away.

"Nothing."

"Well, even though it isn't the greatest of medical care, it'll do for now."

They both walked to Marceline's body, which hadn't moved since Flame Princess had arrived. Finn felt for a pulse.

"Well, she's got a pulse and she's breathing."

"She's lucky I didn't know she'd hit you yet."

"What is wrong with you tonight?"

"Sorry. I get irritable when I don't get sleep. Especially when my sleep is disturbed by Jake crashing through my ceiling onto my bed."

"Yeah, that's a good reason."

Marceline's eyes suddenly snapped open and stabbed Finn's chest with her claws.

"Auugh!" Finn cried in pain.

Flame Princess kicked her off Finn and pinned Marceline to the ground.

"**I thought I told you not to touch him!**" Flame Princess shouted, lighting Marceline ablaze.

* * *

Ice King looked at his bed.

"Gunter!"

He ran over and picked up the plump penguin.

"How many times have I told you not to sit on my bed? I don't want your penguin feet all up in there! I sleep on that!"

_Simon._

"Huh? What is it?"

_Someone dear to you is being killed Simon…_

Ice King's eyes lost their blue glow and turned to brown. He held his head in pain.

"Auughh…God…"

He looked at what was on his head and threw it away.

"No! Get away, you monster!"

_Simon! She is dying! Being burned alive!_

"Who?"

_You know who._

"M-Marceline?"

_Yes, Simon._

"How long did you keep me like this?!"

_One thousand, five hundred and six years._

"Where is she?! Tell me!"

_We will take you there. You will make it much faster as the Ice King._

"Why would you tell me this?"

_We also feel your emotions. This girl is special to you. We are in agony knowing that she is in pain…_

Simon knew that Ice King could reach her faster, but he didn't know why it had released him. Something bigger than him was going on. But, he had no time to waste. Marceline was in danger. He picked the crown up from the floor.

_We will let you take control…We need to tell you where to go. The land has continued changing in your absence, Simon._

"I hate you so much…" Simon said softly, a tear running down his cheek.

_We know._


End file.
